Hartwood Hall Hotel

Name: The Hartwood Hall Hotel

Address: Preston Road, Chorley

The former grand residence of a wealthy Victorian cotton mill owner, William Hawkshead Talbot, Hartwood Hall Hotel was originally set in a quiet, picturesque area on the outskirts of Chorley near Astley Hall, though nowadays is adjacent to the main A6 near the M61 motorway. The land on which the Hartwood Hall Hotel stands was originally part of Astley Manor, owned by the Knights Hospitallers, a medieval military Christian order famous for their stand against overwhelming odds during the Siege of Malta in 1565. 

Acquired in the 15th century by the Charnock family, the estate passed to their heirs until in the 19th century, when the influential local Townley-Parker family sold off some of the land. Chorley in the 1800’s was a ‘cotton town’ and a number of wealthy cotton mill owners and merchants built homes for themselves and their families on plots around Hartwood Green and the main Manchester to Preston Road, including Hartwood Hall. Census records covering this period are shown below: -

1861 Servants in Residence

1871 Census

1881 Census

1891 Census

1901 Census

1911 Census

In the 1930’s, the manufacture of ammunition and armaments became important with the establishment of the Royal Ordinance Factory just down the road at Euxton. The bouncing bomb of the famous Dambuster raids was built there.